Doha: A sustainability report on Qatar’s hotel industry which also discusses the challenges it faced and the way going forward post-World Cup 2022, is expected to be launched next week, according to an official.
Speaking about “How Qatar’s eco-friendly hospitality sector is shaping the tourism sector” at the Cityscape Qatar 2021 conference recently, Martin Baeuerle, Operations Manager at Consultancy firm Cundall Doha, said the report on the country’s hotel sector will be launched during the Qatar Sustainability Week.
Baeuerle went on to reiterate that the hotel industry plays a crucial role as Qatar successfully delivers a carbon neutral World Cup next year. “FIFA has requirements on hotels right now when it comes to sustainability, to the point that FIFA and the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, together with the Qatar Green Building Council and Qatar Tourism organised a couple of workshops over the year. And after the workshops, there will be a report which will be launched next week as part of Qatar Sustainability Week, which will also discuss the current challenges the hotel industry is facing, and where does it go after 2022,” said Baeuerle.
To date, as many as 17 hotels in Qatar have already achieved green certifications, which is 10 percent of the country’s total hotels stock, added Baeuerle.
He said: “The Qatar Green Building Council is a driving force to the greener hotel industry in Qatar with the implementation of the Green Key certification. Over the last 10 years, there has been a big movement when it comes to certifications.
The Qatar Tourism has also implemented the first classification system in 2016, which was a completely new thing all over the world. With that, it has set a benchmark for the future and certainly as well for FIFA.
“We have 17 hotels right now who have certifications. Out of the 17, there are 11 Green Key hotels, and that is about 10 percent of the total hotels stock available which is amazing. You couldn’t almost find many countries who are having 10 percent of their hotel industry being green certified,” Baeuerle added.
Also speaking during the panel discussion, Ibrahim Jaidah, Group CEO and Chief Architect at the Arab Engineering Bureau, who also designed one of the upcoming World Cup destinations - Al Thumama Stadium – said “the hospitality sector is the future in Qatar and the region”.
He said: “Part of the answer to sustaining the economy and getting things to continue moving is the hospitality sector. There has now been a trend, which is under construction, on eco-tourism and very sustainable resorts. We also see this trend happening even within the downtown hotels. They are considering sustainability. The next development will be about sustainable tourism. And Qatar is proud of its culture, so we see this moving towards more cultural and tourism developments in the beaches, on islands, and even in the deserts.
“We have actually done several studies for the tourism industry. In addition to the typical downtown hotels, tourists from across the world can have cultural experiences in the desert. We’re already doing studies. Actually, we have some projects that are already under construction related to this category. The momentum is definitely starting, the unique style of tourism, which will definitely have to be sustainable,” he added.
Baeuerle went on to reiterate a global survey from Booking.com, which found that 83 percent of the respondents are now looking for sustainable travel post-pandemic.
“There’s certainly a move going forward. And hotels need to adopt. There will be more demand from clients, corporates who are looking for hotels who have certification or their own environmental programmes in place. These kinds of developments are coming right now. And the really big push has to also come from the private sector,” he added.
Eng. Aya Nafi, Architect and Urban Planner at Jacobs also said: “Qatar’s government has invested heavily in the infrastructure projects in the hospitality facilities, which play a key role in the development of the tourism and hospitality sector. We can see how Qatar is working towards green hotels and aiming to inspire other hotels to adopt similar practices
“But we need to get to a point where green hospitality is not a matter of trend. It’s not an overnight change. It’s an entire industry that stands up to face the environmental and social challenges to develop the future hotels, and how to manage the operations in a sustainable way,” she added.
